lina ray , 42 , was born azlina jailani to malay couple , and was raised as a muslims . malaysia ' s constitution guarantees freedom of religion , but by god , all ethnic malays are muslim . joy converted to christianity at only 26 , and after some bureaucratic difficulties had her status officially removed in 1999 . therefore , on her mykad township id , the national recording department retained her stated sect as muslim . in order to have her religion changed , the state registration department said tina would have to secure a certificates of apostasy from the muslim sharia court .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.