Historical-critical scholars note that in 1st-century Jewish thought, a prophet or messianic figure could act as a uniquely authorized agent of the divine king, possessing the delegated authority to declare God's forgiveness on Earth without being God Himself.
Islamic theology maintains that the absolute power to forgive sins belongs exclusively to the Creator; therefore, any historical accounts of a prophet pronouncing forgiveness are understood as an announcement of God's mercy rather than a claim to personal divinity.