I have a wife named Malika, and I call her Malik for short. Is it permissible to call her by this name? I heard that the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, used to call ʻAa'ishah ʻAa'ish, or is this a name which is exclusively for men?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

There is no harm in shortening the name by omitting some of its letters as long as the intention is not to belittle or ridicule the person in reference. Al-Bukhari allocated a chapter in his book Saheeh Al-Bukhari entitled: Chapter: The one who, while calling a friend, omits a letter from his name, in which he cited the hadeeth that reads, “The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said to ʻAa'ishah ‘O ʻAa'ish (short for ʻAa'ishah)! This is Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) greeting you.’ She said, ‘May blessings and mercy of Allaah be upon him.’” The hadeeth was cited in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim.

An-Nawawi commented on the hadeeth, saying, “It is deduced from the hadeeth that it is permissible to shorten names by omitting some of its letters as long as no harm or inconvenience is intended for the person (owner of the name).”

There is no problem with the fact that the shortened name is masculine after omitting a few letters from it; as the intention is not to call the woman in reference with a masculine name, just like the case with lady ʻAa'ishah in the hadeeth.

Allaah knows best.