When Hazrat Adam was created - why did Allah tell the angels to bow down to him?

sister Farah and welcome to IB

I read the answer to your question some where (guess it was Mariful Quran) Unfortunately i dont remember it correctly this time but i'll check it once again Inshallah.

Bowing down before someone was an old way to accept someone's greatness and superiority.When Allah SWT created Adam,He SWT taught him what other creatures (Jinns,angels) didn't know.To prove his superiority on other creatures,Allah SWT asked the angels to bow down before him.In another example from Quran,we can see that the brothers of Yousef AS bow down before him to accept his greatness.This was allowed in ancient times but for Ummah of Prophet Muhammad SAW,this practice had abolished.That is why Muhammad SAW said in a hadith that if you were allowed to bow down before a human,i'd ask women to bow down before their husbands but prostration is only allowed before Allah SWT.

For your second question,the answer is obvious.There were hunderds of years between the time of both Prophets and Kabah was obviously damaged (or may be because of Noah's flood damaged it) so he had to built it again.

Hope this helps

1) Allah said : (Al baqarah : 30-34)
And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. (30) And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform Me of the names of these, if ye are truthful. (31)They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge saving that which Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower, the Wise. (32) He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names, and when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the secret of the heavens and the earth? And I know that which ye disclose and which ye hide. (33) And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever. (34)

When Allah informed the angels that He will create humans on earth, they thought that (all) humans will make harm and shed blood an disobey Allah, because angels already saw what jinns did on earth before. And they thought that all Allah's creation is evil and lower than angels (they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee?).
Allah wanted to show them that humans (Adam) are better than they thought, and that humans can be a more noble creation, that angels must appreciate and honor. To show them that Allah taught Adam all the names.
(
interpreting this :
- some 'ulama' said He tought him the names of all objects and creations,
- some others said He taught him the names of the angels,
- some others said He taught him all the languages, and then every one of his children spoke one language,
- others said, Allah guided Adam and gave him the ability to learn new things and new names.
)

After teaching him all the names, Allah asked angels to give him these names, and after they failed and they said that they only know what Allah tought them, Allah ordered them to honor Adam and bow in front of him, to show that they respect him.
(Some ulama think that human prophets can be considered better than angels because angels do not have to fight against their nafs and the shaytan, but that's another subject). wallahu aalam !

2) Allah said : (Al baqarah : 127)
And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower. (127)

Abraham was raising the foundation of the house. The house was built before, so Allah showed Abraham the place of the house (because it was decayed and effaced in the time of Abraham), and ordered him to raise its walls and reconstruct it. Allah says : (al-Hajj 22:26) :“And (remember) when We showed Ibraaheem the site of the (Sacred) House (the Ka’bah at Makkah) (saying): ‘Associate not anything (in worship) with Me, and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it, and those who bow and make prostration.”

I have found it










Taken from
Mariful Quran by Mufti Muhammad Shafi Usmani.