Short answer
Both prayers praise God (﷾) before they ask Him for anything, but they name Him differently. Al-Fatiha, the Qur'an's opening chapter, praises Allah (﷾) as Lord of the worlds. It never calls Him Father. In the Lord's Prayer, the disciples ask God (﷾) directly to forgive them. Straight after it, Jesus says that God (﷾) forgives those who forgive others. He names no other condition and says nothing of a cross or blood. The Qur'an teaches the same link, and Islam says Allah (﷾) forgives those who turn to Him. The Lord's Prayer also ends in many Bibles with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory". Those words are missing from the oldest Greek copies of Matthew, and Luke's version of the prayer does not have them. Muslims recite al-Fatiha in every prayer, as the Prophet (ﷺ) taught.
Full explanation
The prayer Jesus taught
Matthew and Luke both give the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. Christians say it daily and in church. In Matthew it opens by calling God "Our Father". In the King James Version (the old English Bible of 1611), it closes with praise of God's (﷾) kingdom, power and glory. Luke's shorter form has no such ending.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
“And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
The opening chapter of the Qur'an
Al-Fatiha (The Opening) is seven verses long. It praises Allah (﷾) as Lord and Sustainer of the worlds. It declares that He alone is worshipped and asked for help. It asks Him for guidance on the straight way. The Prophet (ﷺ) taught that no prayer counts without it, so Muslims recite it many times each day.
“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.”
Ubada ibn al-Samit reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that a prayer in which al-Fatiha is not recited is not valid.
How each prayer names God
Both prayers praise God (﷾) before they ask Him for anything. The Lord's Prayer says "Hallowed be thy name". Al-Fatiha says "Praise be to Allah". Both also submit: "Thy will be done" and "Thee do we worship". The difference is in how God (﷾) is named. The Lord's Prayer says "Father". Al-Fatiha says Lord of the worlds, Most Gracious, Most Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment. It never says Father. Muslims expect prophets sent by the one God (﷾) to teach prayer in the same spirit.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.”
Forgiveness without a sacrifice
The disciples ask God (﷾) Himself to forgive them. Jesus then explains at once what that forgiveness depends on: forgiving other people. There is no word of blood, a cross or a sacrifice that must first be paid. The Qur'an teaches the same link between forgiving others and being forgiven by Allah (﷾).
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
“Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who have left their homes in Allah's cause: let them forgive and overlook, do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
The Lord's Prayer and al-Fatiha: what the comparison shows
- Both prayers praise God (﷾) before they ask Him for anything, but they name Him differently.
- Al-Fatiha calls God Lord of the worlds, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. It never calls Him Father.
- Jesus said that God (﷾) forgives those who forgive others, and named no cross or blood. The Qur'an teaches the same link.
An ending the oldest copies lack
The words "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" stand in the King James Version of Matthew 6:13. They are not in the oldest Greek manuscripts. Modern translations such as the NIV (New International Version) leave them out of the text. Luke's version has no such ending either. So the oldest copies show a shorter prayer than the King James Version prints.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
On Matthew 6:13, notes that the closing words "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory" are missing from the early and important manuscripts (among them Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) and from early commentators on the prayer, and that they circulate in several different forms. Concludes that they were added later, probably for use in church worship, drawing on 1 Chronicles 29:11-13.
The New International Version leaves sixteen verses that stand in the King James Version out of its main text and gives them only in footnotes: Matthew 17:21, 18:11 and 23:14; Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26 and 15:28; Luke 17:36 and 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:7 and 28:29; and Romans 16:24. It prints Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 with notes that the earliest manuscripts do not have them. It ends the Lord's Prayer at Matthew 6:13 without "for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen", noting that only some late manuscripts add it. At Colossians 1:14 it reads "redemption, the forgiveness of sins", without "through his blood". In Revelation it lacks thirteen words or phrases found in the King James Version, at 1:8, 1:11 (twice), 5:14, 11:1, 11:17, 14:12, 15:2, 16:5, 16:7, 16:14, 19:1 and 21:24.
Does the prayer need the cross?
Matthew 26:28 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verse 28
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Cited for
At the Last Supper Jesus says his blood is shed for the remission of sins. Christians read the forgiveness asked for in the Lord's Prayer through this verse.
The response
Jesus taught the prayer long before the Last Supper. In the very next words he explained its request for forgiveness: God (﷾) forgives those who forgive others. Elsewhere he says, "learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice". In Luke he tells of a tax collector who simply asked God (﷾) for mercy and went home justified. In these passages forgiveness comes from God (﷾) to the one who asks, without a sacrifice.
Where it lands — Jesus' own explanation of the prayer, and his parable in Luke, tie forgiveness to asking God (﷾) and forgiving others, not to a sacrifice.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians hold that the Lord's Prayer is the model prayer Jesus gave his followers. They say calling God "Father" expresses the closeness Jesus opened to them. They also say the forgiveness they ask for rests on his death.
Jesus taught his disciples to address God as "Our Father which art in heaven".
Rebuttal
Grant that Matthew and Luke report this prayer. In Matthew, Jesus tells all his disciples to say "Our Father", and God (﷾) calls the whole people of Israel "my son, even my firstborn". So the word is shared by all who pray, and the Bible calls a whole people God's son without making it divine. The Qur'an shows God's (﷾) closeness without it: "I am indeed close".
Christians hold that the forgiveness asked for in the prayer is secured by Jesus' blood. It was shed, they say, "for the remission of sins".
Rebuttal
Grant that Matthew reports these words at the Last Supper. Jesus taught the prayer long before it, and explained its request for forgiveness in the very next words: God (﷾) forgives those who forgive others. Elsewhere he says, "learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice". In Luke, a tax collector asked God (﷾) for mercy and went home justified.
The Islamic perspective
Al-Fatiha is the prayer the Prophet (ﷺ) made part of every Muslim prayer. It praises God (﷾) before it asks Him for guidance. It names God as Lord of the worlds and never as Father. Muslims have recited it in every prayer since the Prophet (ﷺ) taught it.
Al-Fatiha praises Allah (﷾), declares that He alone is worshipped, and asks Him for guidance.
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught that no prayer counts without al-Fatiha.
The King James Version ends the Lord's Prayer with closing words. They are missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts of Matthew, and from Luke's version.
Jesus ties God's (﷾) forgiveness to forgiving others, with no mention of a sacrifice.
The Qur'an links being forgiven by Allah (﷾) to forgiving others.
Islam teaches that Allah (﷾) forgives those who turn to Him, with no blood required. Even of sacrifices, the Qur'an says it is piety that reaches Allah (﷾), not their blood.