What is the response to a Christian who asks: Before God Almighty created the heavens and the angels, whom did He love and with whom did He speak, using this as proof of the eternity of Christ and God's love for him and His speaking with him?

Allah the Almighty has always been speaking. He speaks whenever He wills and to whomever He wills. Speech is an essential and active attribute: essential in its origin because Allah has always been and will always be speaking, and active because it is tied to His will. The people of Hadith have agreed that Allah speaks with a voice, and His speech is ancient and inexhaustible. It has been established that Allah spoke with the Pen before the creation of the heavens. However, His love for Jesus (peace be upon him) does not establish his pre-eternity, nor His speaking with him in pre-eternity.