One of Australia’s largest mosques is facing what it says is the most “alarming situation” since the Cronulla race riots, with security bolstered ahead of Ramadan celebrations beginning on Wednesday.

Lakemba mosque, in Sydney’s west, has received two threatening letters in recent weeks, ahead of the beginning of Islam’s holiest month.

Gamel Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), which operates Lakemba mosque in Sydney’s west, said the mosque is increasing security and has been assured police will have a visible presence at the site.

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“This is the most alarming situation we’ve ever had since Cronulla,” Kheir says.

“Since Cronulla, we’ve never had to get security guards to guard the mosque day and night but now we have to.”

During Lakemba mosque’s public iftar next month, thousands of people are expected to gather in the closed off street outside the mosque to break the fast. They will be among Australia’s more than 800,000 Muslims, according to the 2021 census, who are preparing for Ramadan to begin on Wednesday evening.

For some Muslims, the rise in Islamophobia after the Bondi beach antisemitic terror attack in December where 15 people attending a Hanukah celebration were murdered, the political aftermath and increasing political rhetoric about immigration loom large ahead of Islam’s holiest month.

Sheikh Yahya Safi, the imam of Lakemba, describes the nights of Ramadan as “something exceptional”. He says during the evenings people spill outside between prayers.

Worshippers gather to hear excepts of the Qur’an recited. Together, they will share lamb, beef, bread and dates as they break the day’s fast.

“This is why people feel something different in Ramadan, because of these nights,” Safi says.

Imam Shadi Alsuleiman, president of the Australian National Imams Council (Anic) – the peak body for Muslim religious leaders – said there were some “mixed emotions” ahead of Ramadan due to the heaviness of global events and local tensions.

“Many families are looking to Ramadan as a source of strength, healing and unity,” he said.

Sydney-based lawyer Ramia Abdo Sultan, who sits on the board of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said approaching Ramadan was a reminder relatives in Gaza will have to experience the month without food and aid.

“You enter with a severe sense of guilt knowing that we are in that preparation phase at the moment,” she says.

“Not only spiritually…. but even in terms of preparing our meals and our gatherings and invitations to have family and friends come and break their fast.”

Alsuleiman said some mosques were reviewing and increasing security measures as a precaution.

Lakemba mosque has received two threatening letters in the weeks leading up to Ramadan. NSW police last month charged a man with allegedly sending a threatening letter to the mosque ahead of Australia Day. Police are investigating the second letter.

Kheir says the close proximity of the threats to Ramadan has not occurred before.

“We’ve never had these threats and the volume of vitriol directed at the LMA and Lakemba mosque,” he says.

The NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, said community safety was the highest priority for police and the state government.

“A police operation – overseen by Operation Shelter – will run throughout the duration of Ramadan where officers will monitor and patrol events to reassure the community,” she said in a statement.

NSW police said additional resources, including Operation Shelter, would deployed to religious and community sites and events based on “community needs and risks”.

“NSW police has supported the observance of Ramadan and provided a police presence at community events for many years,” a spokesperson said.

In Victoria, one the state’s largest mosques – the Melbourne Grand Mosque (MGM) – has also bolstered security ahead of Ramadan. Last month, the mosque launched a hotline for its worshipers to report Islamophobic incidents.

Imran Khan Mohammed, the secretary at MGM says recent Islamophobic incidents, including anti-Muslim graffiti sprayed on the mosque in December, make this year’s Ramadan “challenging.”

The Muslim community faces increased incidents of Islamophobia because of misinformation, stereotyping and prejudice, Mohammed said.

Kheir says recent events in NSW will not detract from the “blessing” of Ramadan for the NSW Muslim community. But he says NSW police’s conduct at a Sydney protest, over the Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, last week is “raw” for the community, with footage showing officers dragging Muslims who were praying.

Kheir says the timing of Ramadan – just over a week after the Sydney protest – is “a mercy.”

“It takes us away from all the pressures that are on this community at the moment and really concentrate on what we believe is the most important thing … that spiritual connection you have with your creator.”

Alaa Elzokm, imam of the Elsedeaq mosque in Melbourne, says he encourages its 800 person-wide congregation to invite a friend or neighbour to share an iftar at the mosque during Ramadan, particularly at a time when there are “misconceptions around the Muslim community.”

“We take advantage of the month of Ramadan to bring everyone together,” he says.

“We invite people to know about the issues from the Muslims, not about them, not hearing about them, but directly from them.”