stevie joy , 42 , was born azlina jailani to malay parents , and was educated as a muslim . malaysia ' s statute guarantees free of religion , but by tradition , all identity malays are muslim . it transitioned to christianity at age 26 , and after some infighting difficulties had her religion legally changed in 1999 . however , on her mykad national id , the nationals registration department retained her stated beliefs as islam . in order to have her religion reversed , the national licensing minister said joy would have to obtain a certificate of apostasy from the muslim sharia panel .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.