Irenaeus Believed in the Eternal Pre-Existence of the Son

Many Muslim apologists often have argued that the idea of Jesus eternally existing as God's Son is something which "came later" at the Council of Nicea. They insist that none of the fathers of the Church before Nicea (or "Constantine") believed that Jesus had existed as God for all of eternity. This was the main point of Mohammed Hijab in his 2018 "debate" with David Wood. He made the rather baffling statement that "none" of the church fathers were Trinitarians in the modern sense. Adnan Rashid also said this in one of his debates with Dr. James White.

Lately, I have been reading Irenaeus' work Against Heresies, in which he is refuting the heretical views of the Gnostic groups and heretics such as Valentinus, Saturninus, Basilides, and others. Here is a quote from Book 2 which shows that he certainly believed in the doctrine of the Trinity as we Christians believe it today, thus showing that the arguments of people like Mohammed Hijab are false:

"But the Son, eternally co-existing with the Father, from of old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals the Father to Angels, Archangels, Powers, Virtues, and all to whom He wills that God should be revealed." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 2.30.9)

In commenting on Irenaeus' theology of the Trinity (as well as his christology), patristic scholar Johannes Quasten says the following:

"Although Irenaeus does not discuss the relationships of the three Divine Persons within God he is convinced that the existence of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is clearly proved in the history of mankind. They existed before the creation of man, because the words, 'Let us make man after our image and likeness' are addressed by the Father to the Son and the Holy Spirit, whom St. Irenaeus allegorically calls the 'hands of God' (Adv. Haer. 5.1.3; 5.5.1; 5.28.1). Thus the whole economy of salvation in the Old Testament is an excellent instruction regarding the three Person in the one God....Therefore Christ is identical with the Son of God, with the Logos, with the God-man Jesus, with our Savior and our Lord." (Johannes Quasten, Patrology, Vol 1: The Beginnings of Patristic Literature, pgs. 294-95)