Yes they see it as worshipping your 'nafs' (self). I remember many discussions with these types, saying "I think..." and being cut off with them saying - "In Islam what you think is of no importance you must follow daleel" (Islamic evidence from Qur'an or Sunna.)
That's another problem with the religion.
The only people who are really able to say what is right or wrong according to the Sunnah and Qur'an are the scholars, because they know classical Arabic, the hadith, the historical contexts, etc.
So, people are more or less at the mercy of scholars to tell them what is right and wrong. I don't know the verse number, but I'm pretty sure there's one in the Qur'an that says that if you don't understand something, then you should go to someone with knowledge. So, to know what the religion actually teaches, people essentially have to rely on what scholars, mere humans, say about it.
That's particularly bad in the case of Islam as it's a system that's imposed on the whole of society. So, if a group of scholars come up with a particularly backward and nasty interpretation of Islam, you're fucked.
Saudi Arabia comes to mind.