In the mosque at Baghdad, where he used to conduct his classes, he was seated when a villager arrived and posed a question to him. He said that a woman had, just then, died in the village and she had a live fetus in her stomach. There was a dispute amongst the villagers as to whether they should bury the fetus along with the dead mother or extricate the baby live and then intern the woman. Some people say that saving the life of the baby was important and others say that conducting any such operation would be disrespect to the dead person.
The Sheik, of course, was a fallible being, and at that moment somehow it came to his mind, he told to the villager to go and bury the dead woman in the same condition that she was. The man immediately set forth for the village. When he reached near the village he heard someone calling him from a distance. He stopped.
One person, riding on a horse, came near him and said that the Sheikh’s Fatwa was changed and he had asked to deliver the fetus live from the mother’s womb and then the dead body may be buried. He acted on the fresh edict. After some days the villager again visited Baghdad and called on the Sheik. He told him that they had acted according to the instruction conveyed through the rider and had delivered the baby live before interning the mother.
Sheik Mufeed understood who it was who corrected his error! The Sheik told to himself, “O Sheik! Your mind has stopped functioning that you should stop giving Fatwa. Your error would have been the cause of the death of a Muslim” From that day he stopped giving Fatwa.
After some time he received a letter from the Imam (a.s) asking him to continue giving Fatwa. He wrote that it was the Sheik’s duty to give Fatwa and if he made any errors, the Imam (a.s) would correct them.
Shi‘ite Authorities in the Age of Major Occultation Part 1: Sheikh Mufid