Why Pork is Haraam (Unlawful): an absurd question

Recently, I was out having a cup of coffee with an english friend of mine, at a newly opened Cafe in Kuala Lumpur. For all these months that I have known this person, we never discussed religion. In fact, my friend indicated to me that he had studied in Birmingham and had been around Muslims for a very long time. But when he asked me the question, "Why is Pork Unlawful in Islam", it didn't really take me by surprise. In reality, I didn't feel like going into any fancy explanations or defensive arguments to make my point as to why pig is unlawful in Islam, because Muslims are always faced with this question all over the world. My answer was no different than what Allah ta'ala had revealed to our beloved messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the Quran:

حُرِّمَتۡ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحۡمُ ٱلۡخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ

I told him that I was born a Muslim, I grew up learning that "lahmal Khinzeer" (meat of the swine) is unlawful and forbidden as the word clearly states "Hurrimat alaykum" (forbidden on you all). I told him that it is is a matter of blind faith (taqleed) in the message of the Quran and really nothing else. However, I told him that Islamic Jurists have then set out certain principles based on the Quran and oral traditions of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) to establish whether a by-product originating from an Unlawful thing becomes lawful (or not). This is a science that helps us in our daily lives to understand if we can have medication, or use toothpaste et cetra. He found that very enlightening. I mentioned to him that I had a very good American friend called Jim Vidar who was a fan and follower of Pastor Benny Hinn; who ran a huge evangelical church (at the time) out of Orlando Florida. This particular Christian friend of mine gave me a book written by a Christian Pastor that discusses the Prohibition of Swine as clearly stated in the Old and New Testament. In fact, the book goes on to criticize Christians for disregarding the clear and concise message of God Almighty!

"But what is interesting to note", I told my friend is that when we look at Arabia at the time of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam), the only animal that was never found in abundance was the swine. So, why would a dessert nomad (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) go so far as to implement a strict ban on eating an animal like the pig when it wasn't even commonly available, nor reared, nor a staple diet? Unless this was decreed by God Almighty! It is like we decide to ban Nano-Technology products when in reality no one really even understands the depth of such a thing? "I ban nano-Technology". How crazy is that? So, how can the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) just decide to ban the eating of an animal that was non-existential in their society. But the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) goes so far as to state (more or less) that if a fly falls in a cup of milk then dip its other wing, throw it away and drink the milk! He doesn't ban people from drinking the milk when it was common sense that a fly was considered a "dirty" insect. It would have made more sense to prohibit people from drinking milk that has been affected by a dirty fly. So, did he get this from the Bible? If he did get this from the Bible than your question is absolutely absurd. You should not be eating the pork at all nor even asking us such a silly question, period! The truth is what is in the Quran.