A Semantical Study of the Arabic word "Jihad"

Both "fight for righteousness" & "fight for justice" are understood to be represented by the word "Jihad" in Arabic. In fact, Quran Surah 2, Verse 190 explicitly states "Fight (in the cause of God) those that fight you, but commit no aggression. God does not love aggressors." So Jihad can be only defensive, never offensive. This is like the NFU policy of India, which has publicly declared that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.

Interestingly, this has been in vogue since the time of the two Avatars (Incarnations of God) in the Hindu pantheon. The central point in both Ramayana & Mahabharata are the wars for righteousness & justice. In one case, recovery of an abducted wife & in the other, recovery of a due share in the kingdom. In Ramayana, the first aggression was committed by abduction. In Mahabharata, just before the war, the foremost warrior of the Pandavas, even laid down his arms. Lord Krishna, God incarnate, persuaded him that fighting in a righteous cause for justice (Jihad?) is his bounden duty, to protect Dharma.

So in the original meaning of the Arabic word "Jihad", may lie the eternal human quest for righteousness & justice. Due to narrow self-interests driven by political/historical needs, the word has been downgraded to mean intolerant fanaticism.

Girls & Gables in Literature

The most famous girl associated with gables is the heroine Anne Shirley of "Anne of Green Gables" (1908) by L. M. Montgomery set in the fictional town of Avonlea in Canada. She is an orphan coming to live with middle-aged siblings Matthew & Marilla. Impetuous but good-hearted, she becomes an inseparable part of their household. She even sacrifices her ambition of a college education to live  with Marilla when Matthew passes away.

The second girl is Phoebe Pyncheon, who appears in "The House of

Seven Gables" (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who also wrote arguably the most perfectly constructed novel of all time, "The Scarlet Letter." H.P.Lovecraft, the famous master of horror stories, called "The House of Seven Gables" as "New England's greatest contribution to weird literature". In a role  reversal of "Romeo & Juliet", Phoebe Pyncheon marries a descendant of the feuding Maules. A TV film was also made, starring the (former) greatest child actress of all time, Shirley Temple as Phoebe.