Is ignorance an excuse in matters of creed?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. It would be wonderful if you could tell us about the excuse of ignorance in creed, because it is a matter of great importance in which many people have fallen without knowing it.

The Shaykh : We have spoken about the excuse of ignorance in general. A person who is ignorant, even in matters of creed, if he has no one to teach him and he claims to belong to the Islamic religion, then he is on what he claims to be. But if he is informed and told, and he persists in what he is upon, then if it is in creed, it is a departure from Islam that necessitates disbelief. If it is less than that, then it is according to that specific belief.
The conclusion is that ignorance is a general excuse in everything. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: But if it is said to this ignorant person, "This is forbidden" and "This is shirk (associating partners with Allah)," and he says, "I do not accept my father and mother in this," then he is at that time a stubborn one against whom the proof has been established, and he is not excused by ignorance.