lina joy , 42 , was birth azlina jailani to malay parents , and was raised as a muslim . malaysia ' s rule guarantees freedom of religion , but by law , all ethnic malays are muslim . jo converted to christian at age 26 , and after some delays difficulties had her named officially amended in 1999 . however , on her mykad national tag , the national registration department maintains her stated religion as protestant . in order to have her religion changed , the national licensing department said i d have to receive a certificate of apostasy from the secular sharia panel .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.