Reproduced with permission from Dr. Fariduddien Rice

It has been my personal experience that the "Salafi" / "Wahhabi" strain of Islam is very devoid of spirituality.  It is completely legalistic, and (in my experience) it has no "heart."  I followed this approach for several years....  I then had what has been called elsewhere as a "spiritual heart-attack."  In practice, I left Islam for a year or so, and primarily was investigating Taoism as a source of spirituality.  Although I never declared myself to not be a Muslim, I stopped associating with Muslims pretty much during that time (apart from my family), though I didn't really speak about this to anyone.  What brought me back to Islam was Tasawwuf (authentic Sufism), specifically the beauty and guidance from the works of Jalaluddin Rumi, and also along with my experiences with the Naqshbandi tariqa of Shaykh Es'ad Cosan, a Turkish Shaykh.

My experience of a "spiritual heart-attack" from the "Salafi" / "Wahhabi" approach is apparently not unique.  I have read a similar account in the article, "The Wahhabi who Loved Beauty." 

Like the person spoken about in that article, when I felt spiritually empty from the "Salafi" approach to Islam, I sought spirituality in other religions -- in my particular case, I looked to the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, while "Jalal" in the above mentioned article turned to Buddhism.  However, al hamdu li Allah, in my case, I returned to Islam when I discovered the beauty and the true spirituality in Islam, through Tasawwuf (authentic Sufism).