What is the ruling on those who excuse the grave worshippers on the grounds of their ignorance and that they cite the hadith of Dhāt Anwāt?

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, those who excuse the grave worshippers, when we say to them, "Do they not read the Qur'an and know Arabic?" They say, "Yes, but they do not know that what they are doing is shirk (associating partners with Allah), and they cite the hadith of Dhāt Anwāt, saying that its narrators were ignorant."

Answer:
Dhāt Anwāt, my brother, they did not do this; they did not ask the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to make it for them, and he did not do so. When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed them that this was like the saying of the Children of Israel, they left it. A person asks about a matter, it is explained to him, and he leaves it, so there is no blame on him. But if he persists in it and does not ask, imitating the disbelievers and not asking, that is the one who is not excused.
Yes, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not proceed to this until they asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) out of ignorance. They said, “Make for us a tree of Anat as they have their tree of Anat.” He said, “You are a people who do not know,” because they were new to Islam. The narrator of this report says, “We were new to Islam.”