Yes. For each of your two in-depth religions, you must study every key concept prescribed in the IB World Religions SL syllabus, together with all specified content under the five themes.
In Part 2, your school selects two religions from different sections: one from Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism, and one from Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Each selected religion has its own list of key concepts. For example, Buddhism includes dukkha, anicca, anatta, kamma/karma and nibbana/nirvana, while Islam includes tawhid, risalah, akhirah, ummah and akhlaq.
The concepts are not a separate checklist to memorize without context. They provide the analytical vocabulary through which you study the five prescribed themes.
| Syllabus element | What you must do |
|---|---|
| Key concepts | Define them accurately and understand their relationships. |
| Rituals | Explain how concepts are expressed through rites, worship and festivals. |
| Sacred texts | Analyse how texts communicate, develop and authorize concepts. |
| Doctrines and beliefs | Connect concepts to teachings, authority and schools of thought. |
| Religious experience | Explain how concepts shape individual and communal experience. |
| Ethics and moral conduct | Apply concepts to contemporary ethical issues and case studies. |
For example, knowing that tawhid means the oneness of Allah is only the starting point. You should also explain how tawhid influences Islamic worship, the rejection of shirk, Qur'anic authority and Muslim ethical conduct. Where relevant, distinguish Sunni, Shi'ah and Sufi interpretations rather than writing broad statements about all Muslims.
A common misconception is that students may omit concepts that have not appeared frequently in past papers. This is unsafe because Paper 2 questions can draw on any prescribed content, and concepts are needed to build connections across themes.
For Paper 2, do not force every concept into every essay. Select the concepts relevant to the question, define them precisely, connect belief to believers' behaviour, and support your argument with examples contextualized by denomination, culture and geography.