My question is very simple: Why were the angels asked to bow down before Adam?
A reflection on the various verses which mention this directive shows that the angels were asked to bow down before Adam for a specific purpose. I’ll try to explain this purpose: You see one of the great sins is arrogance. It often leads to many other sins and may even take a person to committing polytheism. To educate Adam about the future that he and his progeny will have to overcome the obstacle of arrogance if they want to enter Paradise in the Hereafter, the angels and jinn were given this directive. Being superior in qualities, their real test was to surrender to the command of the Almighty before a much inferior being. All except one passed this test. A jinn called Iblīs disobeyed Allah because of arrogance, as is specified by the Qur’ān. This doomed him forever but he was given respite till the Day of Judgement. The lesson of the whole episode being that arrogance and haughtiness before the Lord of the worlds is the gravest of sins. Mankind and their progenitor must remain aware of this evil habit at the very start of their lives. In other words, Adam and his progeny are urged to always follow the dazzling example of the other angels by submitting to the word of Allah and to never follow the arrogant attitude of Iblīs for this would leave them to encounter the severest of punishments in the Hereafter: Hell.