Question Summary:
Figurative speech

Question Detail:

My question is about figurative speech, can we use it?
 
Like for example if one were to say to explain something like "Don't fall into a spider's web, it'll be difficult to get out."
 
Is that OK and other things like this.. "Man, that weighs a ton!" When it doesn't really weigh a ton, but to indicate that it's heavy?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is permissible to use figurative speech.[1] Figurative speech does not constitute kidhb (lies), as everyone understands the intended meaning of the speech.
Figurative speech is used in the Qurān. Allāh Ta’ālā refers to the horizon as a thread:
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ (البقرة:١٨٧)
“(In the month of Ramadan) Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread of dawn” (Al Baqarah: 187)
Figurative speech is also used in Ĥadīth. Nabī Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam refers to conjugal relations as watering a plantation:
قال: لا يحل لامرئ يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر أن يسقي ماءه زرع غيره (سنن أبي داود، كتاب النكاح- باب في وطئ السبايا)
“Nabi Sallallāhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said, ‘It is impermissible for a man who believes in Allāh and the The Last Day to water someone else’s plantation (have conjugal relations with someone else’s wife)” (Abū Dāwood)
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hisham Dawood
Student, Darul Iftaa
Chicago, USA 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
Daruliftaa.net