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Most entrances have been blocked, men in high-vis jackets have been taking turns to patrol and a handful of worshippers have been sleeping inside at night - all necessary precautions, say officials at the Al-Rahma Mosque, during the UK's worst riots in years.
The increased vigilance comes as some Muslims and ethnic minorities in Liverpool say they feel unsafe amid widespread violent, racist protests targeting mosques, immigration centres and hotels that haven't spared the city in the north of England.
Both mosque officials and other Muslims in Liverpool described feeling shocked, after two mosques further north in England were targeted by violent mobs and hundreds of anti-immigration protesters in central Liverpool. Shops were looted and some police were injured.
A second mosque in Liverpool, the Abdullah Quilliam, which describes itself as Britain's first, has temporarily closed due to the violence, which was fuelled by a false narrative spread online that the killer of three girls in nearby Southport last week was an Islamist migrant.
Abdulwase Sufian, a 20-year-old student who helps at the Al-Rahma, refers to himself as a "Scouser". He said he considers Liverpool a place where he can flourish and succeed.
"But seeing the events that have just taken place in city of Liverpool and not just the city of Liverpool in UK as a whole, it's really scary, seeing the people rioting and looting the shops," he said, the yellow dome and pink-and-yellow minarets of the Al-Rahma behind him as dozens of men finished afternoon prayers and left.
He himself hasn't stepped outside his immediate neighbourhood out of fears for his safety, Sufian said, a sentiment echoed by others in the community.
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