Short answer
God (﷾) forbade pork, and Jesus did not eat it. The Qur'an names the flesh of swine (pigs) among the foods Allah (﷾) has forbidden. The Torah, the law given to Moses, said it first. Leviticus calls the pig "unclean to you" and says "of their flesh shall ye not eat". The prophet Isaiah names eating swine's flesh among the sins of those who will be consumed on the day the Lord comes with fire. Jesus lived under that law and said he had not come to destroy it. No verse shows him eating pork. Years later, Peter, one of his closest disciples, said he had never eaten anything unclean. The rule was dropped after Jesus, for non-Jewish converts by the church in Jerusalem, and then by Paul. On this point, it is the Muslim who eats as Jesus ate.
Full explanation
What the Qur'an forbids
The Qur'an names the flesh of swine among forbidden foods in four places (2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115). It is listed with dead meat, blood, and meat offered in a name other than Allah's (﷾). Two of these verses are shown here. The reason a Muslim gives is that God (﷾) forbade it. The same verses allow a person forced by hunger to eat it without sin. The Prophet (ﷺ) also forbade trading in pigs.
“He hath only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then is he guiltless. For Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful.”
“Say: "I find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine,- for it is an abomination - or, what is impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than Allah's". But (even so), if a person is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- thy Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Jabir ibn Abdullah heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say, in the year Mecca was opened, that Allah and His Messenger had forbidden trade in wine, dead animals, pigs and idols.
What the Torah and the prophets say
The Qur'an was not the first to forbid it. Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, forbids the pig by name. It is unclean, its flesh is not to be eaten and its carcass is not to be touched. Isaiah, a Hebrew prophet, does not treat this as a passing custom. Describing the day the Lord comes with fire, he says that those eating swine's flesh "shall be consumed together". He lists it with "the abomination, and the mouse", the unclean animals of Leviticus 11, so the food law is plainly in view. Jews have kept this law since ancient times, and Muslims for fourteen hundred years.
“And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.”
Jesus kept the food laws
Jesus lived under this law. He said he came not to destroy the Law, and that not one jot of it would pass. No verse in the New Testament Gospels shows him eating pork. Years after he had gone, Peter, one of his closest disciples, said he had never eaten anything common or unclean. The Qur'an says Jesus made lawful part of what had been forbidden to Israel. But it never says he lifted the ban on pork, blood or carrion. Carrion is the meat of an animal that died of itself. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that when Jesus returns he will kill the swine.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
“But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.”
“"'(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) swore that the son of Mary will soon descend as a just ruler, break the cross, kill the swine and end the jizya, and that wealth will then be so plentiful that no one will accept charity.
How the Church let the rule go
The change came after Jesus. The council in Jerusalem, a meeting of church leaders described in Acts 15, freed Gentile converts (non-Jews who joined the church) from the food laws. It kept only bans on food offered to idols, on blood and on things strangled. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, went further and wrote that nothing is unclean of itself. Even the council's ban on blood was dropped in the Western churches: blood sausage and black pudding have been eaten across Western Europe for centuries. Some modern Bibles print "Jesus declared all foods clean" at Mark 7:19, but the King James Version reads only "purging all meats".
“But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.”
“That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”
“I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
“Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”
- The Torah
The pig is forbidden
Leviticus calls the pig “unclean to you” and says “of their flesh shall ye not eat”.
- Jesus
He keeps the Law
Jesus said he had not come to destroy the Law. No verse in the Gospels shows him eating pork.
- Years later
Peter
Peter, his closest disciple, said he had never eaten anything common or unclean.
- Jerusalem
Gentile converts are freed
The church in Jerusalem freed Gentile (non-Jewish) converts from the food laws. It kept only the bans on food offered to idols, on blood and on things strangled.
- Paul
“Nothing unclean”
Paul went further and wrote that nothing is unclean of itself. Later the Western churches dropped the ban on blood too.
- The Qur'an
The ban is kept
The Qur'an names the flesh of swine among forbidden foods, with dead meat, blood, and meat offered in a name other than Allah's (﷾).
Some modern Bibles print “Jesus declared all foods clean” at Mark 7:19. The King James Version translates the same verse as “purging all meats”.
Verse by verse
Mark 7:19 — Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, verse 19
“because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?””
Cited for
Christians read Mark 7:19 as Mark's own comment that Jesus declared all foods clean.
The response
The Greek has a short phrase with no verb of declaring. The King James Version translates it "purging all meats", part of Jesus' description of digestion. Some modern translations read it as Mark's comment, so that it says "Jesus declared". Matthew tells the same story and ends with Jesus saying the issue was eating with unwashed hands. And Peter, who heard Jesus, still said years later that he had never eaten anything unclean.
Where it lands — The dispute in Mark 7 was about unwashed hands. Peter did not understand Jesus to have ended the food laws.
Acts 10:15 — Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verse 15
“And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”
Cited for
Christians read Peter's vision as God declaring all animals clean to eat.
The response
Peter was still refusing unclean food at the time of the vision, long after Jesus had gone. He then explained the vision himself: God (﷾) had shown him that he should not call any man common or unclean. The vision was about accepting Gentiles, not about pork.
Where it lands — Peter's own explanation makes the vision about people, not food.
Romans 14:14 — Epistle to the Romans, chapter 14, verse 14
“I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
Cited for
Christians read Paul as teaching, on the authority of Jesus, that no food is unclean.
The response
Jesus never called the pig clean. His words that nothing from outside defiles a man came in a dispute about eating with unwashed hands. Matthew ends the same story with "to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man". Jesus said the Law would not lose a jot, and Leviticus says of the pig, "he is unclean to you". Paul went further than anything Jesus said.
Where it lands — No recorded word of Jesus declares unclean animals clean. That step is Paul's.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians say the food laws were given to Israel for a time. They say Jesus taught that food does not defile a person. They say God showed Peter that the old distinctions had ended, so Christians may eat pork.
In Mark 7:19 Jesus says food passes through the body, which modern translations render as making all foods clean.
Rebuttal
Some modern translations do read it that way. But the Greek has no verb of declaring, and the King James Version reads "purging all meats". Matthew tells the same story and ends with unwashed hands, and Peter, who heard Jesus, said years later that he had never eaten anything unclean.
In Peter's vision a voice says that what God has cleansed must not be called common.
Rebuttal
The vision does say that. But Peter explained it himself: God (﷾) had shown him that he should not call any man common or unclean. The vision was about accepting non-Jews, not about pork.
Paul writes that nothing is unclean of itself.
Rebuttal
Paul does write that. But Jesus never called the pig clean. His words about what goes into a man came in a dispute about unwashed hands, and he said the Law would not lose a jot. Leviticus says of the pig, "he is unclean to you".
Jewish: the Torah forbids pork to Israel
The Torah calls the pig unclean and forbids its flesh to Israel. Jewish law holds that other nations are bound only by the seven Noahide commandments, not by these food laws.
The swine is unclean to you; of its flesh you shall not eat.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees: the pig is forbidden, and Jesus kept that law. The Qur'an confirms the ban in God's (﷾) final message: He has forbidden dead meat, blood and the flesh of swine.
Non-Jews are bound by the seven Noahide commandments, not by the Torah's food laws.
Rebuttal
Granted, and it bears out the Qur'an: the Torah's extra food laws were Israel's law, not every nation's. The ban on pork is different. The Qur'an, sent to all people, forbids it to every believer.
The Islamic perspective
Pork is forbidden because God (﷾) forbade it, first in the Torah and finally in the Qur'an. Jesus kept that law. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) confirmed it.
The four schools of Islamic law agree that pork is forbidden, except to save a life.
The Qur'an forbids the flesh of swine and calls it an abomination.
Leviticus forbids eating pork and calls the pig unclean.
Isaiah names those eating swine's flesh among those consumed when the Lord comes with fire.
Jesus said he had not come to destroy the Law, and no New Testament Gospel shows him eating pork.
Peter, years after Jesus had gone, said he had never eaten anything unclean.
The food laws were dropped by the church after Jesus, through the Jerusalem council and Paul.