jessie happiness , 42 , was created azlina jailani to christian parents , and was raised as a methodist . malaysia ' s constitution guarantees purity of religion , but by ordinance , all ethnicity malays are muslim . joy converted to christianity at only 26 , and after some streamlining troubles had her denomination surname changed in 1999 . however , on her mykad national passport , the national registration departments retained her claimed profession as islam . in condition to have her religion changed , the federal census department estimated joy would have to have a certificate of apostasy from the religious sharia court .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.