Syed Mustafa Zaidi was given a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

The 44-year-old was also prohibited from allowing or encouraging anyone under the age of 16 to beat themselves during the next 12 months.

Judge Robert Atherton, at Manchester Crown Court, told him: "I reject the suggestion that they were forced to participate, although I consider it likely that the fervour of events is also likely to have affected their wish to participate."

Zaidi was found guilty of two counts of child cruelty last month after the boys, who admitted they wanted to beat themselves, suffered superficial cuts at a community centre in Levenshulme, Manchester, in January.

He admitted during his trial that he asked the boys, aged 13 and 15, if they wanted to use his zanjeer zani to beat themselves.

The zanjeer zani, a five-bladed implement, is used during the Ashura ceremony, which commemorates the death of Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and a central figure in the Shia faith. It is held during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.

Judge Atherton said: "You must realise that the law recognises that children and young persons may wish to take part in some activities which it considers they should not."

He said Zaidi also ignored the decision made by elders of the mosque that under-16s could not participate in the ceremony.

Zaidi, a warehouse supervisor from Eccles, Salford, took part in the ceremony, which involved self flagellation and men beating their chests while chanting the name Husayn.