Every Muslim should try his best to seek lawful food and refrain from what is Islamically prohibited for him to consume. Muslims are permitted to eat foods prepared by non-Muslims as long as the prepared foods are clean and lawful to consume. Islam is a simple religion that teaches the Muslim to deal with all people fairly and justly; halal is halal and haram is haram regardless of whether it is provided by a Muslim or a non-Muslim.
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, President of the Fiqh Council of North America, states the following: Muslims, as far as Islam is concerned, are allowed to eat the food prepared by any human being as long as it is clean, healthy and prepared with halal (lawful) ingredients. It is not the requirement of the Shari`ah to have Muslim cooks and Muslim food servers. It is the Jewish and Brahmanic food laws make such restrictions, not the Islamic food laws.
Also, there is nothing wrong in having non-Muslim friends as long as we do not compromise our faith and our Islamic rules for the sake of their friendship. We should also not take those as our friends who fight Islam and Muslims or who show hatred against Islam and Muslims.
It is worthy mentioning here that Islam teaches us that we should be friendly to all people. Islam teaches us that we should deal even with our enemies with justice and fairness. Allah Almighty says: [O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is Informed of what ye do.] (Al-Ma’dah 5 :8)
In another place in the Qur’an, Allah Almigty says: [Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers. Allah forbiddeth you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that ye make friends of them. Whosoever maketh friends of them (All) such are wrong doers.] (Al-Mumtahinah 60: 8-9)
Allah Almighty has described Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as ‘a mercy’ to the worlds. He was a sign of Allah’s mercy to all, Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
In his kindness and fair treatment, he did not make any difference between the believers and non-believers. He was kind to the pagans of Makkah and fought them only when they fought him. He made treaties with the Jews of Madinah and honored the treaties until they broke them.
Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have received the Christians of Najran with kindness in his Masjid in Madinah. They argued with him about Islam, but he returned them with honor and respect. There are many examples from his life that show that he was the friendliest person to all people.