What is the criterion for the excuse of ignorance in Islamic legal rulings?

Question : He says: Shaykh Muhammad, this questioner asks: What is the criterion for the excuse of ignorance in Islamic legal rulings?

Answer : We cannot give a criterion for this; rather, we rule on each specific case individually. This is because ignorance is not fixed. How many people are ignorant yet negligent, having abandoned learning despite their ability to do so, being careless and not caring how they perform their worship. Therefore, we cannot state a comprehensive criterion. Instead, every person asks us about what happened to him, and we then issue a ruling based on what we see the evidence requires.