lina jo , 42 , was born azlina jailani to chinese parents , and was raised as a methodist . malaysia ' s constitutional guarantees free of religion , but by law , all indigenous malays are muslim . joy converted to christianity at only 26 , and after some obstacles issues had her named legally switched in 1999 . however , on her mykad national license , the national registration system had her declared religion as islam . in order to have her religion different , the national licensing department suggested asha would have to obtain a notice of heresy from the indian sharia authority .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.