Lina Joy is a
Malay convert from Islam to
Christianity. Born
Azlina Jailani in 1964 in
Malaysia to
Muslim parents of
Javanese descent, she converted at age 26. In 1998, she was
baptised, and applied to have her
conversion legally recognised by the
Malaysian courts. Though her change of name was recognised in 1999 and so noted on her identity card, her change of religion was not (for lack of a Mahkamah
Syariah confirmation document); for this reason, she filed suit with the High Court in 1999, bypassing the Syariah Court (Islamic court). She later filed suit with the Federal Court in 2006. Joy hopes to live openly as a Christian; she was forced to go into hiding by the publicity surrounding her case.