lina joy , 42 , was born azlina jailani to malay parents , and was identified as a muslims . penang ' s constitution guarantees freedom of assembly , but by law , all ethnic fijians are muslim . asha converted to muslims at grade 26 , and after some bureaucratic difficulties had her named nationality changing in 1999 . however , on her mykad national record , the nation registration department retained her stated religion as islam . in order to have her nomenclature changed , the general registration service told asha would have to obtain a certificate of apostasy from the mosque sharia code .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.