The Ruling on Excusing the Ignorant Person Regarding Shirk

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah accept you. If a man commits shirk out of ignorance, is he excused for his ignorance?

Answer:
It depends on the person's situation. If this ignorance is such that knowledge does not reach the ignorant person, because he is isolated in a desert, a remote area far from Islam, or in lands far from Islam, and he has not heard anything about Islam, nor heard the Qur'an, nor heard the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning knowledge has not reached him and the argument has not been established against him, then he is excused for his ignorance. However, if he hears the Qur'an, hears the hadiths, and hears about the mission of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but he does not take an interest in it and does not learn it, then he is not excused for his ignorance, because the argument has reached him, but he was negligent in understanding it and seeking it. This person is not excused for his ignorance; the argument has reached him. Whoever the argument reaches is not excused, whereas whoever the argument does not reach is excused. Allah the Exalted said: . For the one whom the argument has not reached, the call of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has not reached him. This only applies to the one who is far from the lands of Islam, isolated, who hears nothing of Islam, nor of the Qur'an, nor of the Sunnah, who never hears anything at all. This person is excused for his ignorance. This is generally difficult to find or rare, because in the early times, Islam spread to the East and the West through jihad, and it became famous on earth, reaching what the night and day reach. Jihad in the path of Allah, at the hands of the Companions and the early Muslims, reached the East and the West, and nothing remained in the inhabited world where Islam had not reached, so the argument was established against humanity. In our present time, when jihad ceased, the media took its place. These radio stations are heard in the East and the West, the Qur'an is recited and heard in the East and the West, the Prophetic hadiths are recited and heard, and the words of the scholars are published and heard. Now the argument has been established. But the matter lies in taking an interest in understanding it. The one who does not take an interest in it is not excused. Yes.