Shafi'i in the context of "Hanbali school"

Al-Ghazali (c. 1058 – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics in Islamic history.

He is considered to be the 11th century's mujaddid, a renewer of the faith, who, according to the prophetic hadith, appears once every 100 years to restore the faith of the Islamic community. Al-Ghazali's works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that he was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam" (Ḥujjat al-Islām). Al-Ghazali was a prominent mujtahid in the Shafi'i school of law.

Islam is the largest religion in Indonesia, with 87.06% of the Indonesian population identifying themselves as Muslims, based on civil registry data in 2023. In terms of denomination, the overwhelming majority are Sunni and non-denominational Muslims; the Pew Research Center estimates them as comprising ~99% of the country's Muslim population in 2011, with the remaining 1% being Shia, who are concentrated around Jakarta, and about 400,000 Ahmadi as well.

In terms of schools of jurisprudence, based on demographic statistics, 99% of Indonesian Muslims mainly follow the Shafi'i school, although when asked, 56% do not adhere to any specific school. Trends of thought within Islam in Indonesia can be broadly categorized into two orientations: "modernism", which closely adheres to orthodox theology while embracing modern learning, and "traditionalism", which tends to follow the interpretations of local religious leaders and religious teachers at Islamic boarding schools (pesantren). There is also a historically important presence of a syncretic form of Islam known as kebatinan.