Short answer
Yes. The verse does not say that spider silk is weak. It says the spider's house is the flimsiest of houses. The Arabic word is bayt, which means a home. A home is meant to shelter and protect. Spider silk is very strong for its weight. But the web you see in a corner gives no shelter from sun, wind, rain or cold. A stick or a gust of wind tears it down. In some species even the family inside is unsafe. The female may eat the male, and in some the young eat their mother. The Qur'an's point is simple: trusting any protector other than God (﷾) is like living in such a house. Islam's answer is to rely on God (﷾) alone.
Full explanation
What the verse says
The verse is a parable, a short picture that teaches a lesson. It says that people who take protectors other than Allah (﷾) are like a spider that builds itself a house. The spider's house, it says, is the flimsiest of houses. The word is bayt, the ordinary word for a home and the family in it. The verse speaks of a dwelling, not of a thread.
“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house;- if they but knew.”
The objection
Critics point out that spider silk is one of the toughest materials known. Weight for weight, it takes in more energy before it breaks than steel or Kevlar (the tough fibre in bullet-proof vests). So, they say, the Qur'an was wrong to call it frail.
Measures the properties of spider silks. Dragline silk combines high strength with great stretch, so that it absorbs more energy before breaking than steel or Kevlar, weight for weight.
Strong thread, frail house
The strength of silk is not in dispute, and the verse never mentions it. Now look at the web as a dwelling. The familiar web keeps almost nothing out. It gives no cover from sun, rain, wind or cold. A child can wipe it away with a stick, and then the spider must build again. A strong material can still make a flimsy house.
“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house;- if they but knew.”
Measures the properties of spider silks. Dragline silk combines high strength with great stretch, so that it absorbs more energy before breaking than steel or Kevlar, weight for weight.
The household inside
Biologists have found that in some species the spider's home is unsafe even for its own family. In a number of species the female is far larger. She may kill and eat the male, before or after mating. In some species the young eat their own mother. A home that looks like shelter but works as a trap fits the parable well.
Reviews sexual cannibalism, in which the female kills and eats the male before, during or after mating. It is widespread among spiders, especially orb-weavers and widow spiders, in which the female is often far larger than the male.
Studies a spider species in which the young kill and eat their own mother soon after hatching, and shows that the spiderlings gain from it.
The objection answered
Qur'an 29:41 — Surat al-Ankabut (The Spider), verse 41
“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house;- if they but knew.”
Cited for
Spider silk is, weight for weight, one of the toughest materials in nature. So calling the spider's house frail is a scientific error.
The response
The verse names the house, not the material. Strong silk still makes a home that keeps out almost nothing. A stick destroys it. And in some species the family inside is unsafe for its own members.
Where it lands — The objection answers a claim the verse does not make. As a dwelling, the web is exactly as the Qur'an describes it.
Perspectives
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an is right. It calls the spider's house, not its thread, the frailest of houses. The familiar spider's web is about the flimsiest home any creature lives in. The image fits anyone who relies on a protector other than God (﷾).
The verse calls the spider's house (bayt), not its silk, the flimsiest of houses.
Spider silk is very strong for its weight, but the verse does not speak of the silk.
In a number of spider species the female may kill and eat the male. In some the young eat their mother.
The parable teaches that any protector other than God (﷾) gives no real shelter.