According to Islamic teaching, should no one be given an office who seeks it?

Wanting to serve is good and desirable. What is condemned is seeking an office for the sake of one’s own prestige and promoting oneself as the most suitable person.

The question contains a misunderstanding. It is not forbidden to wish to serve others. On the contrary, every good person wants to contribute something good, and someone who does not want to serve at all is hardly a good example.

The difference lies in the intention. Whoever seeks an office so that his name grows bigger acts out of vanity. And whoever claims to be the most suitable person nearly always injures his own humility. The second verse above warns against exactly this, declaring oneself pure. The two hadith show that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) did not appoint anyone who asked for office. Whoever receives an office without asking is helped in it. Whoever asks for it becomes its captive.

This leads to a wise arrangement. One does not put oneself forward. Instead others propose a person when they see good in him. In this way fewer people who only seek prestige end up in positions of responsibility, and everyone learns humility. This is not a rule without exceptions. When particular expertise is needed and volunteers are explicitly invited, one may come forward. The underlying idea remains that anything which feeds self-importance should be avoided.

Whoever does receive an office should regard it as a trust, as the first verse above says. It is a grace one has not earned by oneself. So one carries it with a full sense of responsibility and fulfils its duties as well as one can.