Did the Prophet permit Abu Hurairah to get castrated?

Question

Narrated Abu Huraira:

I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I am a young man and I am afraid that I may commit illegal sexual intercourse and I cannot afford to marry." He kept silent, and then repeated my question once again, but he kept silent. I said the same (for the third time) and he remained silent. Then repeated my question (for the fourth time), and only then the Prophet said, "O Abu Huraira! The pen has dried after writing what you are going to confront. So (it does not matter whether you) get yourself castrated or not.

https://sunnah.com/bukhari/67/14

in the previous hadith the prophet forbade castration ; i think he's given permission; What should i do

Answer 1

No. The Prophet ﷺ is addressing Abu Hurairah's excuse, who had expressed fear that he would face hardships. The Prophet said ﷺ that if something has been destined then it shall come to pass, and getting castrated will not stop it. That indirectly means that he should not get castrated since it is useless. The prohibition is also directly conveyed in the previous ahadith in the chapter such as that of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and Uthman bin Maz'un. There is virtually a consensus that castration of humans is forbidden.

Ref:

وليس إذنا في الخصاء بل فيه إشارة إلى النهي عن ذلك كأنه قال إذا علمت أن كل شيء بقضاء الله فلا فائدة في الاختصاء وقد تقدم أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عثمان بن مظعون لما استأذنه في ذلك

^{— Fath al-Bari}