This study aims at applying the concept of maqashid shariah to understand a problematic hadith narrated by Abû Dzâr al-Ghifari and Abû Hurairah. Such hadith has attracted serious attentions due to its narration which equated between a donkey, a dog and a woman among many Moslem scholars throughout the Islamic intellectual history. In the first part of the article, a critical review of interpretation method employed by previous ulamas, both from classical and modern period has been presented. From such an examination, it becomes clear that there is a gap which has not been adequately answered by the previous methods. Therefore, in this context, the maqashid is situated as the alternative method. Here the maqashi concept is projected as a ratio legis and parameter of the validity of ijtihad, following al-Syâtibi and Jasser Audah’s notion. Having  employed maqashid to the hadith, this article concludes that the hadith contradicts one of al-kulliyah al-sittah (the six general principles of maqashid), which is hifzh al‘ird. As a consequence of this contradiction, the hadith is irrelevant as practice.