Four men have been found guilty of giving a Sydney electrician 40 lashes with a cable, which they said was a punishment under Islamic law for drinking alcohol and using drugs.

Zakaryah Raad, Tolga Cifci, Wassim Fayad, and Cengiz Coskun were today convicted of several charges relating to whipping Cristian Martinez, a convert to Islam, in July 2011.

Magistrate Brian Maloney told Burwood Local Court on Thursday it was an extremely unusual case.

"Until now, assaults occasioned in the course of a religious practice involving the mortification of the flesh have not been before any court in any common law country."