Is one excused for ignorance if he dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah)?

Question:
May Allah reward you. Among the questions we received is this one, where the questioner says: Is one who falls into major shirk (associating partners with Allah), while being ignorant, and has done so his entire life, and dies upon it, excused for his ignorance? What are the conditions for being excused for ignorance?

Answer:
If he lives isolated from the Muslims and does not hear the Qur'an, nor hear anything about Islam or shirk (associating partners with Allah), then his ruling, until he dies, is the ruling of the people of the period (al-fatra) to whom the Qur'an did not reach, to whom the call of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not reach. They are among the people of the period. The scholars differed regarding their ruling. The closest view, and Allah knows best, is that a Prophet will be sent to them on the Day of Resurrection; whoever obeys him will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys him will enter the Fire. As for their ruling in this world, if they die upon disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah), we treat them as we treat disbelievers and polytheists. That is their ruling in this world. Their ruling in the Hereafter is with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
As for the one who lives among the Muslims and hears the Qur'an, hears the hadiths, hears the lectures and lessons, especially when the radio broadcasts of the Noble Qur'an came, and he hears these things, then the argument has been established against him. He is not excused for ignorance. Because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said, and He revealed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) . This means that if the Qur'an reaches him, and he understands the Arabic language in which the Qur'an was revealed, then the argument is established against him, and he has no excuse.
He is not ignorant. Because the Qur'an is in Arabic, and it forbids shirk (associating partners with Allah), it forbids disbelief, and it threatens the polytheists with eternal abode in the Fire, and that it will not be forgiven for them. So how can he not know about shirk and ask about it, and search for this great danger? He is the one who is negligent, he is the one who is negligent, so he is not excused for ignorance regarding the apparent matters. As for the hidden matters that only the scholars know, if he falls into one of them, he is excused for ignorance until he asks the people of knowledge.