Australian Muslim Mentor Convicted of Whipping Convert

From The Clarion Project.

Australian Muslim Mentor Convicted of Whipping Convert


As a Sharia punishment for drinking and drug use, Christian Martinez was held down and whipped 40 times with an electrical cord.

A Muslim man in Australia was sentenced to prison for a minimum of at least 16 months for whipping a Muslim convert who he was mentoring. The whipping was carried out as a Sharia (Islamic) punishment after the man admitted to drinking alcohol and taking drugs.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia relating to such a punishment given out according to Sharia law and subsequently used as a defense in a court of law.

Wassim Fayad, 45, and three young accomplices broke into convert Christian Martinez's house and whipped him 40 times with an electric cord while the three other men held him down on his bed.

Magistrate Brian Maloney sentenced Fayad to a maximum two years' imprisonment for assault and inflicting bodily harm, while giving the accomplices suspended 18-month sentences each, finding that they were duped by Fayad.

The defendants told the court that they were following Sharia (Islamic) law when they held Martinez down and whipped him on the back.

Martinez told the court that he had called Fayed, his religious mentor, to admit that he had spent a night out drinking and taking drugs. Sharia law prohibits alcohol and recommends whipping as a punishment for several offenses.

Martinez allegedly also asked him for help getting off drugs. Fayed told him, "That means I'm going to tie you up, brother, because that's what you need."

Fayed and the other offenders then proceeded to break into Martinez's home in the middle of the night. Fayed lashed Martinez on the back as the others held him down. Martinez, who had originally consented to the punishment, changed his mind in the middle of the whipping and begged the men to stop. He was in serious pain for about a week after the incident.

In court, the judge based his ruling on the fact that Martinez had withdrawn his consent; he also expressed doubt that Martinez had given his consent in the first place. In addition, since whipping a person with an electrical cord can cause serious bodily harm, a party cannot consent to an act that is unlawful or criminal according to Australian law.

Fayad's lawyers immediately filed an appeal and were seeking bail pending the outcome of the appeal hearing.