Will Hindus be punished by Allah for worshipping idols and nature?

[A question from an internet discussion forum brought to Swami by Śrī Anil:

The Quran says that Allah will punish people who worship creation. Hindus remain panentheistic (worshipping God who has merged with the universe), despite knowing about Allah’s warning. Thus, they will go to hell which is what they deserve, as Allah is never unjust. Is the knowledge of Islam, pushing Hindus further away from Muslims?]

Swami replied: It is wrong to believe that an idol itself is God. An idol is only a representative model for God. So, there is no problem with idol worship, if the idol is only treated to be a representation of God. If such idol worship is wrong, then saluting to the national flag, which similarly represents the country, is also wrong. Idol worship is the initial step in the spiritual effort and is necessary for beginners. Allah will never announce cruel punishments for devotees who are taking these initial steps in the right direction towards the spiritual goal. Such cruel punishments are announced by Allah only for committing serious crimes. Either there is some other intention behind the statement in the Quran or such statements might have been introduced by some fanatical devotees.

The intention behind the above statement in the Quran is that if you worship the idol without knowing that it is only a representative model of God, such rigid foolishness takes you to hell. The idol is inert, whereas, God has unimaginable awareness. You must realize the actual nature of God and not get carried away by the representative model. Even the Hindu scripture says that idol worship is only meant for beginners and that the idol itself is not God (Na tasya pratimā asti). The non-realization of the actual nature of God, due to the rigid faith that the idol itself is God, is condemned in this statement. You must not interpret this statement based on your own rigid foolishness that rejects idol worship altogether. Thus, idol worship is accepted from one angle and it is rejected from another angle. It is accepted as representative worship meant for beginners while it is rejected if the idol is literally thought to be God. These are two sides of the same coin.