Cooking for a Muslim friend - need some guidance, assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. I'm in a friend group of three and one of them is Muslim. Before I agreed to join their monthly food-sharing, I did a bit of research so I wouldn't serve anything haram. I thought the basics were: no pork at all; avoid meat that isn't halal-certified (vegetables, flour, eggs, plant-based stuff and fish seemed fine); and watch out for animal-derived ingredients like gelatine and lard. I also clean my pans and pots with soap and water after each use, but my household does cook and eat pork and non-halal meat sometimes. From what I read, cookware that touched pork is okay if it's properly cleaned, but recently my friend mentioned needing to “halal-ify” the cookware with a special Islamic soap so the food would be completely halal. Is that accurate? Have I been making her eat something impermissible every time she eats what I cook? I know beliefs and practice vary a lot between Muslims and different schools of thought, and I really should ask her directly, but I'm nervous and wanted to get other perspectives first. I’m generally ignorant about religion (I'm an atheist) and this is a fairly new friendship, and I’ve never cooked for someone like this before. Any practical advice on what really matters, how strict I need to be about cookware, and polite ways to ask my friend about her preferences would help. Sorry for the long ramble - I get a bit wordy when nervous.