In an article (in Turkish) Prof. Ebubekir Sifil notes:
http://muratyazici.blogspot.com/2008/04/ibni-teymiyyenin-baz-anormal-grleri.html
The answer that Ibn Taymiyya gave to the vital question posed by Imam Abu Hanifa rahimahullah — "Where was [Allah] before creating the Throne?" — is that the Throne (Arsh) is also qadim (eternal without beginning). However, this response leads to an even more difficult problem than the original one:
If the Throne is qadim, then necessarily one of the following two situations must be the case:
A. The Throne, just like Allahu ta'ala — Allah forbid — is wājib al-wujūd (necessarily existent). However, it is beyond need of explanation that this quality can belong to none other than Allahu ta'ala alone.
B. Allahu ta'ala created the Throne. However, since Allah has been established upon the Throne from eternity, then the Throne would have to be both eternal (azalî) and created (makhlūq, i.e., originated in time), which is contradictory.
Ibn Taymiyya attempts to resolve this problem by suggesting that ḥawādith (things that are originated in time, i.e., not eternal) and bodies (ajsām) can be eternal in terms of their kind/species (jins or nawʿ), though not individually. His view on this matter can be seen in detail in his works published under the titles Muwāfaqat al-Maʿqūl (as a marginal note on Minhāj al-Sunna) and Darʾ Taʿāruḍ al-ʿAql wa al-Naql.
Therefore, according to Ibn Taymiyya, the Throne must also be eternal in its kind (not as an individual entity). Jalal al-Din al-Dawwani notes in Sharḥ al-ʿAḍūdiyya that Ibn Taymiyyah, in one of his works, stated that the Throne is eternal in its kind.
(end quote)
I have recently found out that the Wahhabi author al-Albani criticized his master Ibn Taymiyya on this matter at two different places. Here are the English translations (both can be found in the web):
Murat Yazıcı
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