Repentance is directly to Allah alone
Ultimately, all sins are against Allah, since it is His laws and commands that have been broken. Consequently, it is His choice if and how He punishes people. However, Allah has told us that He is the Most Merciful and the Most Forgiving, and that He will forgive a person if they sincerely repent to Him and Him alone.
"If you ask in prayer, ask only Allah; and if you seek help, seek it only from Allah"
(Hadith)
After all, Allah is the only one who can forgive sins.
"And who forgives sins besides Allah?"
(Qur'an 3:135)
"It is He who accepts repentance from His servants"
(Qur'an 42:25)
Even Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) never claimed to be able to intervene and forgive sins, even for those people very close to him that he might have wanted to do so for.
"Oh Tribe of 'Abd Manaaf, Oh clan of "Abdul-Muttalib, secure deliverance for yourselves from Allah. Oh mother of az-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwaam (aunt of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)), Oh Fatimah daughter of Muhammad! Secure deliverance for yourselves from Allah, for I cannot avail you at all against Allah. You can both ask me for my property whatever you wish."
(Hadith)
Allah also reminds the people of this fact in a verse of the Qur'an:
"The Decision is not yours (Oh Muhammad), whether He pardons them or punishes them, for they are indeed transgressors"
(Qur'an 3:128)
It is a fundamental concept in Islam that worship is for Allah alone, that it is not to be directed to any created being or false gods or deities.
"Verily, those you call on besides Allah are only slaves like yourselves"
(Qur'an 7:194)
If a person does seek help or forgiveness for sins from one other than Allah, it will be of no use to the person, since only Allah can help or harm a person.
"Do you worships besides Allah that which cannot help or harm you?"
(Qur'an 21:66)
"You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help"
(Qur'an 1:4)
Since in Islam there can be no person who is able to forgive sins, confessing ones sins or attempting to use an intermediary (such as a priest, learned scholar, prophet etc) as a means of communicating with Allah is not only fruitless, but it is the gravest of all sins in itself (see the section on Shirk in the Prohibitions section).
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